


Aletheia

by spookyscaryskeletons (Buttons15)



Category: DC Extended Universe, DCU, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21997081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttons15/pseuds/spookyscaryskeletons
Summary: "Diana laughed then, and Lois found herself smiling at the contagious sound even though she didn’t quite know what was so funny. “A fascinating answer, Ms. Lane. You do not disappoint.” She leaned forward, dropped her voice to barely above a whisper. “I propose a game for you, then. To make things interesting.”--In which Lois Lane gets an exclusive opportunity to interview the embassador of the recently revealed country of Themyscirabut Diana has a lasso of truth and Lois is gay
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Lois Lane
Comments: 34
Kudos: 167





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wstranged](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wstranged/gifts).



The embassy of Themyscira was a well-illuminated, intimidating place. It was beautiful in its structure, all tall columns and intricate sculptures in every corner. If one did their research – and Lois Lane would never walk anywhere without reading about the place first – then one would learn that the building was no less mysterious than the country it represented. Built by the very women of the odd isolationist island, reports on the inside architecture varied, as if the building never remained quite the same.

It was a mystery which, should the evening go as planned, Lois could solve. Except she had a long list of much more pressing questions to ask.

“We’re here,” the desk woman stopped by a door at the end of a short corridor. The walls were covered by wallpapers with intricate patterns. The doorknob was carved into what looked like a deer. She felt as if she were inside a Greco-Roman temple. “The ambassador will see you now.”

“Thank yo-” She’d barely blinked, and the woman was already gone. Lois frowned, hesitated, knocked at the door.

“Come in,” a muffled reply sounded, and she pushed the door open. Diana Prince stood by a tall stained glass window that pictured a scene of mythology which Lois didn’t quite recognize. She had a presence, Diana, a strange magnetism to her figure that was strong enough to be disorienting, and when she turned around and smiled, Lois was so distracted that the sound of the door slamming itself shut behind her made her jump. “Welcome, Ms. Lane, a pleasure to meet you. Please have a seat.”

“Thank you for having me,” Lois replied, made her way to the desk. She put her purse on the empty chair next to her, pausing to grab a notepad from it. “This is a fantastic opportunity.”

Diana smiled again, took a seat. Lois scanned her notes, a list of dozens of questions she had about the recently revealed island, its technology and culture, its people. After the initial announcement of a gradual opening of borders in the UN, journalists from all over the country had been waiting for an opportunity to learn anything about Themyscira, to no luck.

And then the Daily Planet had gotten a letter asking for her, by name. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, probably wouldn’t be the last – she did have a Pulitzer, after all – but even by her standards, this was unusual. She was into investigative journalism, not diplomacy, and though the two often overlapped, she could think of at least three other journalists who would be more adequate for this role.

“I’ve read your article,” Diana said, leaned back against her seat. “The one on Mr. Wayne. I must say, your prose was a delight to read.”

 _Ah. That explains it._ Lois arched an eyebrow. “Is that so? I’ve been called ‘too angry’ over that piece. ‘Hysterical’ even.”

“My time in the world of men has been admittedly short, but I find that those are some choice words used when women are speaking truths.” Diana picked a glass from the table, handed it to Lois and filled it with water from a jar. “But alas, as interesting as that is, I reckon you’re not here to talk about Wayne.”

“No, I’m not.” Lois appreciated her directness. “If we may, I’d like to begin with more general questions. What can you tell me about Themyscira? All we know about it, from the official pronouncements, is that it is an island filled exclusively by women.”

“Boring, boring.” Diana crossed her arms, shook her head. “Are you afraid of the truth, Ms. Lane?”

“I – ” the question caught her so off guard, she put her pen down and frowned. “I’m inclined to say I am not. I’m an investigative reporter. Chasing the truth, uncovering secrets, those are my passions, my callings.”

“But?”

“But,” Diana tracked her with intense blue eyes, and Lois supposed it could have been intimidating, but she wasn’t one to shy away. “But precisely because I chase it, because I know how much damage the truth can do, how many people it can hurt, how many dreams it can destroy? Then I suppose the answer is I fear it sometimes. Sometimes, the truth can be pretty scary.”

Diana laughed then, and Lois found herself smiling at the contagious sound even though she didn’t quite know what was so funny. “A fascinating answer, Ms. Lane. You do not disappoint.” She leaned forward, dropped her voice to barely above a whisper. “I propose a game for you, then. To make things interesting.”

And Lois was tempted and fascinated, she was, but she had a job to do. Her eyes drifted to her notepad, and as if reading her mind, Diana waved her off. “Leave me that list of yours. I’ll formally answer each question, and have it sent to you so that you may edit it into an article for that newspaper of yours.”

“Just like that? Not afraid I’ll twist your words into something unintended?”

Diana smirked, a twinkle in her eyes. “I am sure you are capable of such thing. But although I haven’t known you for long, I feel doing such would be… uncharacteristic of you. Married to the truth, no?”

“So I try to be.” Lois grabbed the glass of water and took a sip. “All right, Ms. Prince. I’ll humor you in this game of yours.”

“Just Diana, please.”

“In that case, call me Lois.” She put the glass down. “What are the rules?”

Diana reached out for a drawer under the table, pulled out a long string of rope. For a moment, Lois’ thoughts drifted in all the wrong directions and she half-wondered whether she’d accidentally missed important words in the interview invitation – words like _kink_ or _BDSM_. It must have showed on her face, because Diana snorted. “Do you believe in magical artifacts?”

Lois shrugged, smiled. “Only when they work.”

“You’ll find this one to your liking, then.” Diana placed the rope between them, then wrapped one end around her own wrist. “This is the Lasso of Truth. The name is quite self-explanatory. It compels those who hold it to speak and understand the absolute truth.”

“What a charming, convenient tool,” Lois stared at the Lasso. Other than the light-yellow glow it emitted, it seemed quite unremarkable. But she’d met her fair share of weirdness, from flying, super strong men to alien invasions. She was committed to things which were real and she did believe everything could be logically explained, but she found a lot of times she didn’t need to understand how and why things worked, as long as they did. “I suppose that other end of the rope goes on my wrist?”

“Correct. You’ll ask me questions, but I’ll ask you questions in return. I’ll be compelled to tell you the truth, but likewise so will you.”

Lois decided to bite on the premise. “Hm. Aren’t you afraid I’ll ask you for… military secrets?”

“Not particularly.” Diana toyed with the rope between her fingers. “The Lasso will make you ask the questions for which you truly desire answers. I don’t think military secrets would interest you.” She smirked, and Lois couldn’t help but notice the dimples on her cheeks. “I hope I won’t be proven wrong. May I?”

Lois extended her arm in answer, and Diana carefully looped the free end of the Lasso around her wrist. There was a jolt at the contact, and as it traveled up her body, she felt her hairs stand on end. There was power to it, something ancient and incomprehensible. “I’m uncomfortable,” she blurted, blinked, wondered why she’d said it. “I suppose that means it’s working.”

Diana laughed, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “That is a commonly reported side effect, yes. I’ll give you the honors of asking the first question.”

And Diana had been right, it turned out, because Lois’ meticulous list of what to ask, ranked by order of relevance, was suddenly flipped on its head. “Why did you choose me?”

“Hm.” She tilted her head, rested her cheek on her palm. “You must understand, introducing Themyscira to the world of men has been long debated among our people, and we’ve decided to take our time to do things right. I had to look for the longest while to find someone… with the right voice. Someone who could be one of us, so to say.”

“One of you,” she repeated. “What does that even mean?”

“It means exactly what I said,” Diana shrugged. “We have certain values, certain beliefs, which we wouldn’t want to share until we found a person who can understand them enough to translate them.”

“Reasonable. Wise.” Lois wanted to know more, but rules were rules and she still had self control enough to bide her time. She bit her tongue. “Your turn.”

“What motivated the article on Wayne?”

And there were secrets which shouldn’t be shared, she knew, things which would put people at an underserved risk, but some of those Lois had been aching to say for so long that maybe the Lasso wasn’t even forcing her to speak – maybe it was merely serving as an excuse. “He’s the fucking Batman.”

Diana tilted her head. “I… did not expect that as an answer, and I must say I don’t understand how it acts as a motivation.”

“Bruce Wayne is the fucking bat,” She repeated, and now she was on a roll, “He’s, what, if not the richest man alive then among the top three. And we know – we _know_ how things work, yeah? Poverty and social vulnerability, those are the things that force people to turn into crime. It’s not rocket science. There are studies on that.”

“I’ll make sure to look them up.”

“I can point you to my favorites.” Lois took a gulp of water to wet her lips. “So you got Gotham, a fucking, burning mess of a city. There is no social security, no healthcare, barely any public services at all. People are dying of cold in Gotham. People are starving. And Wayne, he could change that. He has the political power, and he makes more money than some whole countries.”

“Is he not a philanthropist?”

Lois scoffed. “Charity,” she said, let the distaste clear in her tone, “Charity is what Wayne does to feel better about himself while staying on top. True change requires less social inequality. It requires a world where billionaires cannot exist.” She paused. “But then how else would he be able to feel manly and heroic, if not by dressing up as a winged furry and hopping onto a big car filled with surreally expensive gadgets to punch some dangerous pickpockets?”

“And yet,” Diana let the words hang in the air. “You didn’t tell the world who he is at night.”

“There are certain lines I will not cross. Things which define my moral integrity.” She shrugged. “It would achieve nothing but the endangering of innocent people, anyway. Much better to expose his company’s malpractices. At least like that, I can chip away at his pockets. Hit him where it really matters.”

“You’re positively fascinating, Lois,” And Lois had told Diana to call her by name, but she hadn’t expected how her own name would sound in such a low, calm voice. “Thank you for the explanation. I believe it is your turn to ask me something.”

“Why did your people hide for so long? Why show yourselves to the world now?”

“Those are two questions,” Diana pointed out with a smile.

“I could rephrase them as one big question, if you’d like.” She tapped her fingers on the desk. “Rearranging words is a bit of a specialty of mine, you see.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Even as she spoke, her gaze was scrutinizing, if amused. “Themyscira is… utopic, you see. And when you have a paradise in hands, it’s easy to be afraid of risking it. We told ourselves the world was not ready for what we have, and perhaps that’s true. But mostly, we worried that rather than us helping you, you would destroy us.”

“What changed your minds, then?”

“We realized we are plenty able of destroying ourselves, and then the world would just never see what we were. What it could be. What _we_ could be, together.” She quietly hummed a melody. “What use is love and peace on Earth, when it’s exclusive?”

“Green Day?”

“Of all the things we miss out from the outside world, the musicians are possibly what I regret the most.” She casually took Lois’ glass and finished the water from it.

“Is that why you chose to be ambassador? Principles?”

“Yes and no. I wanted to see the world.” She leaned forward, and Lois couldn’t help but notice how smooth, catlike the movement was. “And that’s three whole questions for you, Lois. I believe this means I get to ask a very good one, now. What motivates you to seek the truth?”

“I – ” she shrugged her coat off, feeling warm. “It’s not just one thing. My father is… not a good person. And he had this whole life planned out for me, a life I didn’t want at all. So I think at first it was just this – a cry for independence. I was hoping that among all the truths I uncovered, perhaps I’d find myself.”

“Did it work?”

“In a way.” She paused, stared at her tied wrist, let the thoughts take shape in her head. “I did find a love for helping those in need. For hitting the corrupt and the wrongdoers where it hurts them the most – their egos. You can do a lot of good with the right information. But…”

“But?”

“I’m a bit addicted to it, too, I think. To knowledge. To the power that comes with it.” She raised her gaze. “Truth is one hell of a drug.”

“Hm.” She could feel the weight of Diana’s eyes roaming her from head to toe. “You’re driven. Ambitious. You didn’t even suffer to get those words out,” Diana licked her lips absently, “You weren’t surprised. Which means you knew. You knew you enjoyed power, but you’re not intimidated by that. Not consumed by it either. You keep a moral code.”

“Are you trying to be my therapist? Because I already have a therapist,” Lois looked her in the eyes, didn’t drop her gaze. “Though I’ll say, the lasso is a strong selling point, if you ever want to go into that kind of business.”

“Ha!” She had perfect teeth, when she smiled, full lips and dimples, “I’ll humor you with one last question, since you keep proving yourself so bold.”

“Tell me something you don’t want me to know, then.”

There was one long stretch of silence in which Diana stared at her almost lazily, resting her chin on her hand, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. “It would be most unprofessional to say it,” she finally spoke, “But I find your appearance very pleasing.”

“It would be equally unprofessional to say it,” Lois blurted without thinking, “But I’d like to see you again.”

Diana’s only reply was a sly smile.

 _Shit_ , Lois thought when her brain caught up with her mouth, and she pulled her wrist free of the Lasso and cleared her throat. She felt the tips of her ears burn, but by then the mess was already made and she decided, in a surge of spite, to make the most out of it. “I have to go,” She stood, ripped two pages off her notepad. “Here are the questions I need for the paper. Thank you very much for your time, Ms Pr – Diana.”

Diana stood, extended her hand, and Lois enveloped it with both her palms. “Likewise.”

And then Diana tried to pull back, but Lois held it in place, took the pen hanging from the notebook spirals and used it to make a quick scribble on the back of Diana’s hand. “My number,” she said, then put the cap back on the pen. “So you can send me your answers, or contact me for… other things.”

Diana’s smile was radiant, warmed her up on the inside. “I will.”

It took Louis a good twenty minutes to find her way out of the building. Maybe the rumors were true. Maybe the architecture did turn and change like the insides of a clockwork monster.

Or maybe she was just distracted.


	2. Chapter 2

It took her six days to hear from Diana, and when she did, it wasn’t through text but rather through an official, stamped letter from the embassy of Themyscira, this time addressed to her apartment. There was an address, written in intricate calligraphy, together with a date, a time and a string of numbers which Lois assumed were latitude and longitude coordinates. And a single line of text:

_‘Sorry, I don’t have a phone.’_

She couldn’t help but grin at that.

Lois looked up the place beforehand – they led to the heart of Centennial Park. The coordinates pinpointed the exact bench Diana would be waiting her at. But she didn’t have a phone. The entire situation was surreal. She arrived fifteen minutes earlier – the early bird catches the worm and all – yet Diana was already there.

“How come you don’t have a phone?” She sat down on the bench next to Diana who, Lois noticed, did not slouch. “You showed up to the White House on an invisible airplane to announce your presence to the world, but you don’t have a phone?”

Diana’s look was too sheepish, too cute. “There’s so many of them! So many different options of brands and chips and cameras and – back home everyone just has the same communicator. We’re trying to develop compatibility, but there are several bands of radio waves and companies fighting among themselves over them, it’s almost as if they’re trying to destroy each other.”

“They are.”

She tilted her head. “Is it not a waste of resources? To have many people investing in the same research to outdo the other, when they could work on different parts of a whole together?”

Lois shrugged. “It’s capitalism. The principle is that the competition among them will be the driving force for them to keep looking for improvements. Otherwise they’d get accommodated offering mediocre services.”

“Isn’t the greater good enough of a driving force?”

“Ha!” Lois smiled, open and genuine. “Only in a hypothetical world where people are good and selfless.”

“That is quite the cynical point of view, Ms. Lane.”

“Lois,” she corrected, “And I’m not cynical, just skeptical.” She turned to Diana, arched an eyebrow. “Prove me wrong.”

“I’ll take you to Themyscira sometime. We’re…” Diana hesitated for a long time.

“Altruistic? Perfect? Angels on earth?” She couldn’t keep the acidic tone from her voice.

“…not capitalistic?”

Lois laughed, and Diana giggled with her, a sound so sweet it made her cheeks warm. She decided to resume the conversation before Diana could notice it. “So, your note told me where to meet – with great precision, I must add, thank you – but did not tell me what we’re meeting for.”

“Oh!” her eyes gleamed with excitement as she pulled a crumpled-up pamphlet from her pocket, “This! I heard it’s very famous in Metropolis. I haven’t been around a lot and I’d like to know the city, and you did say I could call you, so I figured we could go together.”

She eyed the Big Belly Burger poster and blinked. “This? Sure, I suppose.”

Diana scrunched up her face. “Is it not good? You don’t seem enthusiastic.”

“It’s quite all right. I just figured you’d want to go –” _somewhere fancy,_ she intended to say, because Diana wasn’t just a politician, but the sole representative of a recently discovered, technologically advanced country. A country where expensive food did not imply social status. “ – never mind. Belly Burgers sounds about good. They’re the perfect amount of greasy, enough to be tasty, not enough to be disgusting.”

Diana smiled, so open, so sincere, it made Lois feel as if she was staring at a door straight to her heart. “Can we go, then? Right now?”

“Of course. Follow me, I know the way.” Lois stood and Diana all but jumped to her feet after her. She was so much taller, she had no trouble catching up even though Lois had the habit of walking with near-jog speeds.

There wasn’t a line at Big Belly Burger, and so the two took their time choosing from the menu even though she found that most fast-food tasted more or less the same. Diana, on the other hand, delighted herself in choosing two entire sandwiches, a soda and both the fries and the nuggets options.

Lois didn’t think she would be able to eat it all, figured she just wanted a taste of each thing, but Diana surprised her again. Lois supposed someone that tall and muscular would need a lot of sustenance, even though it seemed excessive. But living in Metropolis, she’d seen a lot of much stranger things.

Which reminded Lois of her current case, one which Diana just might be able to help with. “Say, Diana?”

“Mmh?” Diana raised her eyes from her burger, still chewing a mouthful, ketchup on her cheek.

Lois had half a mind to tell her to please, take her time chewing, but Diana swallowed the food before she could say it. “Last time we met, you showed me your Lasso of Truth. Is it safe to assume you’re also familiar with magic in general?”

“Oh, definitely.” She slurped her soda with a straw. “I was surprised, actually, to find how little widespread it is on the world of men. In Themyscira, it’s as much a part of our daily life as technology.’

Lois wondered whether it was rude to bring work into a date. She wondered, for that matter, whether it was a date at all. It was hard to tell – Diana struck her as a person who was warm in general, which made distinguishing romantic intent that much harder. But she seemed interested enough, so Lois went for it. “There’s this case I’m investigating. Missing university students. Evidence has led me to believe the disappearances might be magical in nature.”

Diana leaned forward, and Lois stole one of her fries and nibbled it. “What kind of evidence?”

“The first case dates back to ten years ago, to a woman called Alicia dos Santos. She was an undergrad in Metropolis University. Her grades were excellent right up to the last year, where she failed a class. From then it was downhill. She flunked over and over for three years in a row, unable to graduate, until she vanished entirely. After six months of investigation, the case was filed as a runaway.”

“But you think they were wrong,” Diana guessed, and snatched half-a-french-fry from between Lois’ fingers and ate it.

Lois arched an eyebrow at it, but Diana didn’t seem to notice. “Yes. Ever since then, there have been disappearances. Always the same pattern – professors with a history of giving unfair tests or failing multiple students, always during final’s week. Some were deemed suicides. None were ever found again.”

“And the magic?” Diana grabbed a ketchup bag, struggled with opening it.

Lois rolled her eyes, took it from her hands, ripped it open and squeezed ketchup on the corner of the tray so that Diana could dip her fries on it. “Here’s the thing: I have reason to believe Alicia was a witch. The more I look into her, the more likely it seems. I broke into her old apartment –”

“You broke in?” Diana mumbled, covering her mouth with her hand to hide the obvious fact that she was chewing. “Isn’t that illegal?”

“Only if you get caught.” Lois waved it off, took a sip from Diana’s cup and grimaced. The restaurant had a self-service soda bar, and it was clear that Diana had just mixed all the five different available sodas. “So, as I was saying. The apartment is now home to a nice old couple, but in the room which used to be Alicia’s I found this.”

Lois reached into her purse, pulled the magical amulet she had been carrying around. She slapped it on the table, an intricate mess of feathers, string and what she hoped was animal bone. And while she wasn’t magically inclined, even she could feel the drumming of energy it emitted.

Diana reached out, but when her finger approached it, she immediately recoiled. “You shouldn’t carry such things around.”

Lois _had_ considered that possibility, but she wasn’t sure she had any alternatives. “As opposed to what, leaving it in my home?”

“Fair point.” Diana poked the amulet with a table knife. There was a loud _pop_ , and it began smoking, emitting a foul, sulfur smell. Lois threw a napkin over it. “It’s definitely magic.”

“Really. What gave it away?”

Diana arched an eyebrow at her, lips curled into a playful smile. “I have a sense your words were condescending. Are you being condescending, Ms. Lane?”

She grinned back, malicious. “Pardon me, Ms. Prince. I shouldn’t hold such high expectations on your knowledge of the supernatural.”

 _“Excuse me?”_ Her miffed tone made Lois burst into chuckles. Diana rolled her eyes. “It’s not dark magic. Just a charm for protection. Nature magic, really, nothing charged with… what are you thinking about, human sacrifice?”

“Human – ” She said it with the same casualty Lois listed names of pizza places. “Maybe. Always a possibility, but…” She shrugged. “It doesn’t fit with her. She was the animal-lover, hippie type. You never know, though, do you?”

Diana slurped on her disgusting drink, smiled. “We could investigate further, if so you wish. I am no magician myself, but there are… things I can do, tools I brought from home. We could use them to track her. Get to the bottom of this.”

Lois took the glass from her hands, stared into her eyes and slurped on the straw. It tasted like shit. “We could.” And then, because fortune favored the bold, she added, “Maybe you could stop by my house. I could show you my notes. Offer you… a proper drink, if you’ll let me.”

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with my drink,” Diana took it back, but the face she made when she drunk it told Lois that even she couldn’t stand the excessive sweetness.

 _She wears her heart on her sleeve because she doesn’t fear getting hurt,_ Lois realized, and the thought scared her because of what it meant – either naivety or an inner strength so great, she was certain there was nothing she couldn’t withstand.

Lois would put her money on the latter. “Your drink is gross,” She took it back, finished the damn thing. “Proper champagne, do you have that where you’re from?”

“No, but we have free healthcare for all – ah!” She burst into giggles, “Lois, your _face!”_

“Yes, keep on rubbing your social security on it,” Lois rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep herself from smiling. “What do you say we meet in my house, tomorrow night? I’d take you there straight from here but you’re the ambassador of a foreign nation and I didn’t make my bed in the morning. Can’t have you thinking we’re all slobs.”

“Only you?”

“Only on Saturdays,” Lois winked, and maybe it was wishful thinking, but maybe there _was_ a blush hidden in between Diana’s giggles. Or maybe it was just Lois’ sky-high self-esteem. One way or the other, she decided to push it a little further. “To my defense, I wasn’t expecting to bring my date home.”

“Ah, but you are so lovely,” Diana tapped her fingers on the table. “Do you not bring a woman home every weekend?”

Lois pointed at her with a french fry, swallowed what she had been chewing, “I have been nothing but nice to you and I am feeling so attacked right now.” But then Diana giggled again, and a treacherous part of her seemed to whisper, _I’d let you attack me all night to hear you laugh like that._

Diana’s face turned serious. “You are most right, pardon me. I wouldn’t want you to think all Themyscirans are mean-spirited warriors, either. This attitude, I promise you, is not universal.” And she kept her face straight, the bastard, even as she added, “As opposed to the healthcare.”

“But do you have five different types of soda to mix into an atrocity? No? Didn’t think so.” She leaned back against her seat. “And it’s fine, my ego can take it. I’ll take my Pulitzer to bed tonight and wake up feeling brand new.”

“Still, allow me to make amends.” She dipped her head. “Thank you for the invite. I would love to. Would you like me to bring anything for dinner?”

“Not the fucking drinks,” Lois replied.

There was a moment of silence when her eyes met Diana’s, wide with surprise and amusement.

And then the two were laughing again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> proletariat intensify

**Author's Note:**

> i have very little knowledge on DC but i write lesbians under demand


End file.
